June 29, 2008 National Bowl, Milton Keynes, ENG
Road to Revolution: Live at Milton Keynes is the second live CD/DVD/BD compilation by American rock band Linkin Park. It was recorded during the band's annual Projekt Revolution festival tour at the Milton Keynes National Bowl on June 29, 2008. It was originally planned to be released on November 25, 2008 but was changed to November 24. The concert featured material from all three of the band's albums, as well as songs from their EP, Collision Course with Jay-Z, and elements from "Reanimation" and Fort Minor's The Rising Tied. The concert was announced months beforehand and promoted heavily; possibly to gain as much of a crowd as possible for the release of a DVD/CD and to compete with the popular Glastonbury Festival which took place over the previous three days. The concert took place on June 29, 2008. It was the first time Projekt Revolution had come to the UK as part of the first Projekt Revolution in Europe (the other three shows took place in Germany). It was also the first time Linkin Park & Jay-Z collaborated outside of the US. Like all Projekt Revolution concerts several bands played before Linkin Park; Innerpartysystem, The Bravery, Enter Shikari, N*E*R*D, Pendulum and Jay-Z (who performed a full solo set, as well as his collaboration with the headliners). On many of the flyers released by the band, and distributed by the Linkin Park Street Team however, HIM were listed as performing. Bennington told the crowd that the show was the biggest Projekt Revolution show to date after "Points of Authority" and said that it was best day of his life. During "Jigga What/Faint" Shinoda mistakenly forgot to get his guitar in time, however his part was edited in. On the DVD, during the performance of "Bleed It Out", Bennington and Shinoda engage in a "singalong" with the crowd, however due to the length of the show, it was cut out of the CD. "Wake" was also cut from the CD for the same reason, instead the ending fades from the end of "No More Sorrow" to "Given Up". Release Edit This concert was supposed to be broadcast on MTV but for legal reasons, the show ended up being commercially released on CD and DVD. The full show, like many other Linkin Park shows since 2007, was made available to download in MP3 format for those who purchased a code at the show. On October 6, 2008, the band's official website held a contest for anyone 18 years of age or older to submit a name for the CD/DVD. On October 8, five final choices were made into a poll allowing fans to vote for their favorite. The final choices were: "Linkin Park: Midnight In Milton Keynes", "Sunset Revolution: Linkin Park Live In The UK", "Road To Revolution: Linkin Park Live", "Revolution In The Iron City: Linkin Park Live", "Revolution in the UK: Linkin Park Live". On October 13, the website was modified to fit the winning title which was announced as "Road to Revolution", along with the track listing. Road to Revolution: Live at Milton Keynes received a divided reaction among critics, although most agreed that fans will be pleased with the album. Ryan Bird of Kerrang! highly praised the album, calling it the band's "most triumphant moment" as well as describing the concert as "a day of absolute perfection that spread across every last detail". Rick Florino of Artistdirect also praised the album, saying, "Road to Revolution is one of those rare live packages that works on every level." Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic gave a mixed review of the album, saying that it "will surely please fans", although he also stated that "It's not a bracing testament to the band's on-stage prowess." Kate Harper of CHARTattack gave a negative review, calling them "boring to watch", although she praised Jay-Z's appearance. Band line-up Chester Bennington – vocals, additional guitar on "Shadow of the Day" Rob Bourdon – drums Brad Delson – lead guitar Dave "Phoenix" Farrell – bass, additional vocals on "The Little Things Give You Away", rhythm guitar on “Leave Out All The Rest” Joe Hahn – turntables, samples, programming Mike Shinoda – vocals, rhythm guitar, keyboard, bass on "Leave Out All The Rest" Jay-Z – vocals on Collision Course songs ("Numb/Encore" and "Jigga What/Faint") Linkin Park setlist: "One Step Closer" "From the Inside" "Somewhere I Belong" "No More Sorrow" "Papercut" "Points of Authority" "Wake" "Given Up" "Lying from You" "Hands Held High" (A capella) "Leave Out All the Rest" "Numb" "The Little Things Give You Away" "Breaking the Habit" "Shadow of the Day" "Crawling" "In the End" First encore "Pushing Me Away" (Piano version) "What I've Done" Second encore Numb/Encore (With Jay-Z) Jigga What/Faint (With Jay-Z) "Bleed It Out"